Cunard Lines QE2 was placed under a security alert in Alexandria, Egypt today after the company received information that threats were made against the ship and its passengers. The Queen Elizabeth 2 was the standard bearer of the cruise industry for many years and fears that she may be a target for terrorists was the underpinning of the alert.

Carol Marlow, the president of Cunard, owner of the QE2, said the company had received “certain information” and increased the security surrounding the 67,000-tonne ship.
She added: “We take these sort of things very seriously and, while we do not actually believe there is any cause for alarm, we have put the ship on a higher level of security.
“We are working with the Egyptian authorities and shore security has been increased. All our excursions from the QE2 are going ahead as planned.” via the Scotsman.com News

The  Seattle – Alaska Cruise season is about to begin, and from a modest start the region has turned into a major cruise hub feeding the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Besides the hugely popular Alaska cruises the Port of Seattle offers many 3 day cruises to Vancouver and the local region.

What began small — with just six Alaska-bound sailings in 1999 and about 3,300 passengers — has mushroomed this year to almost 200 departures and an estimated 370,000 passengers.
Five major lines will base nine ships at Seattle’s two downtown cruise-ship docks: Holland America, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean.
The Alaska cruises go from May 5 until late September, but the first big cruise liner to sail into Elliott Bay will be Holland America’s Volendam on April 22, en route to Hawaii.
Cruises from Seattle and other United States ports have boomed, due to the ease of driving or flying to such ports and because of security concerns after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Seattle Times: More cruises than ever from Seattle.

It looks tike Disney Cruise Line will be entering the European Market by offering cruises that will be visiting the Mediterranean Sea and visiting France, Italy, and Spain in the summer of 2007. This may be a great opportunity for those with small children to visit the Mediterranean ports.

The Disney Magic will offer eight alternating 10-night and 11-night Mediterranean cruises, departing from Barcelona, Spain, and stopping in eight European cities.

Traveling through Europe can be daunting, especially with small children, company President Tom McAlpin said. A Disney cruise takes the guesswork out of what cities to hit, where to eat and what shows to see, he said.

“The cruise takes care of all of that and people trust Disney. At the end of the day you know you’re coming back to the ship and having five-star dining, great entertainment and you know your kids are going to have a good time,” he said.

Disney is considering expanding beyond its two ships, which have been successful since they began operating Caribbean voyages in 1998. But “it’s not the right time now,” McAlpin said. via MSNBC.com.

Starting April 6th, Carnival Cruise Lines is switching itineraries for two of its ships, the Fantasy and the Sensation. The Sensation is having trouble with its propulsion system and can not complete the longer 5 day cruises that it has  scheduled. What makes this story interesting is that both ships have an identical layout, so except for the branding and name on the individual ships, the passengers will not notice a difference.

The ship is unable to operate at maximum cruising speed to complete five-day itineraries to the Bahamas and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, and will take over the Fantasy’s three- and four-day itineraries to the Bahamas. The Fantasy will take over the Sensation’s route.

The Fantasy and Sensation are sister ships with the same features, amenities, accommodations and layout, and passengers’ reservations will automatically change from one ship to the other; booking numbers and stateroom assignments will stay the same. Guests also can use their preexisting cruise documents.

via Travel Weekly

There was a ferry accident off of Bahrain on the evening of March 30th. Over 150 people were on board the vessel, and the Bahrain News Agency is reporting casualties.

The vessel was on an evening cruise that was to last several hours when it overturned less than a mile off the coast, the Bahrain News Agency reported.
The agency said Bahrain’s coast guard boats arrived at the site and that rescue operations had begun.

Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based Navy 5th fleet, told The Associated Press that that the U.S. personnel were en route, but had no other details.
“We’re sending divers, small boats and a helicopter right now,” Breslau said.
The sinking came about two months after an Egyptian ferry sank in the Red Sea, killing about 1,000 people. The vessel was en route from the Saudi port of Dubah to the Egyptian port of Safaga when it went down before dawn about 60 miles off the Egyptian coast. via WBBM 780

When going on a cruise, there are many opportunities to experience the unique nature of the islands the cruise ship is taking you to, you have to remember that there are some risks. The cruise ship typically has no liability for you while you are off ship unless on an excursion that is sponsored by the ship.

While a seasoned traveler will understand the risks associated of going outside the plan, many others who are not as savvy may expect to always fall under the cruise ships umbrella. Unfortunately when we travel we tend to relax and lower our guard. This may not be what you want to hear going on vacation, but the alternatives of not being prepared in a foreign country can be much worse.

When cruise line passengers participate in onshore excursions like the one that killed 12 people in Chile, they need to take their own legal precautions and not rely on cruise ship company liability, experts said on Thursday.
Passengers need to be particularly careful when they choose tours that aren’t affiliated with the cruise line, said Paul Ruden, senior vice president for the American Society of Travel Agents. That appears to be the case in Chile, according to the cruise line.
Ruden acknowledged some people choose local operators that don’t coordinate with cruise lines because they may offer cheaper tours.
“If you’re comfortable being out on your own, that’s fine, but you’re taking the same risk of being out on your own that you would anywhere,” he said.

Read the rest at CNN.com

A tour bus  carrying passengers from the Carnival Cruise Lines Millennium has crashed outside Santiago Chile leaving at least 11 people dead and many others injured . The bus was returning from visiting a National Park and was traveling on a poor section of road that ran along a cliffside.

“We have confirmed 11 people killed,” Poli said. He said some of the dead were thought to be from the United States but did not have an exact number or identities.
The crash occurred as the tourists returned to their Bahamas-registered Millennium cruise ship after visiting the nearby Lauca National Park.
“We still do not know the causes of the accident, but the road in that was has several cliffs and is very curvy,” Poli told the Associated Press by telephone via  Yahoo! News.

According to Cruise experts, 2006 is off to a slow start. The first quarter is the most important to the industry as those in the northern parts of the country are sick of winter and book their vacations to get away from it.

However, according to this article in the Miami Herald, the winter has been mild, pricing is higher,  and the bookings are slow.

Every year about this time, the phones practically ring off the hook at travel agencies as winter-weary consumers in northern parts of the United States suddenly start dreaming about spring and summer breaks spent cruising the Caribbean or some other exotic locale.To travel agencies, this is known as ”wave season,” because if you were to chart cruise bookings over the course of a year, you’d get something like a tidal surge from January through March.More cruises are booked during the three months than at any other time of year.But this year, some say, it’s looking more like a ripple, with none of the superlatives used to describe the three-month period previously.”It has not been a strong wave season,” said Marvin Davis, president of Cruise Planners, a Coral Springs-based firm that handles marketing and advertising for about 600 travel agents.Davis blames an unusually warm winter in the Northeast and Midwest, which he says is making people less likely to call up their travel agents. via the MiamiHerald.com

The Radisson Cruise Line will be changing its name to the Regent Cruise Line as they try to upgrade their image. They will also be performing an upgrade of the ships interiors with this change.

Carlson Cos., of Minneapolis, said it is merging the cruise line with its Regent Hotels subsidiary, an upper-end resort chain that is expanding rapidly in Florida.

The company hopes that by dumping the declining middle-market Radisson brand in favor of the exclusive Regent moniker, the customer for its cruises will focus on the luxury that Carlson has been building into its ships.

“Our acclaimed cruise line is evolving to a new higher level,” said Jay Witzel, president and CEO of Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Carlson Cruises Worldwide.

To drive home the switch, Witzel announced an upgrading of suite design, decor, amenities and technology on the ships.

Cruise line taking Regent name to bolster luxury image: South Florida Sun-Sentinel.